Every household in the UK that has solar panels on their roof is helping to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions, as they are reducing the amount of electricity they are purchasing from the National Grid.
Environmental impact of solar panels on homes
Installing solar panels on your roof not only can save you money on your energy bills but it also helps the environment, as it ensures that a proportion of your electricity needs are met by renewable energy. This means that you wouldn’t have to purchase that electricity from your energy supplier, which could be generated from a range of sources, likely including ones that are not renewable.
Hive Home conducted some research recently to understand the impact that home solar panels have on carbon emissions. They found that domestic solar panels save 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 per year which is the equivalent of removing 630,000 cars off the road!
Solar yield impacts
Where you live can play a factor in how much electricity your solar panels are producing with yields in the south of England being greater than homes in Scotland for example. The uptake in solar panels has been greater in the south of England with South East England producing the highest levels of savings due to the number of solar PV installations in the region. The South East saves over 428,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
But even during the winter months like now, solar panels can still generate electricity. Solar panels require daylight, not sunlight to operate. Electrons in solar panels need contact with light particles called photons to make them move and get energised which can be transformed into an electrical current. The stronger the daylight is, the more electricity can be generated which means you can get optimum output when the sun is at its highest and brightest with no obstructions such as clouds. However, as long as there is daylight, energy will be generated by the solar panels, so shorter daylight hours and cloudy days will reduce the yield, but you will still generate electricity.
If you haven’t invested in solar panels yet and are interested in finding out more about how much they could cost and what you could save, visit our solar calculator, fill out our online quote form, or contact us to find out more.
